1 Ave., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 81 
to exhaust land as quickly as possible, the best way to do it is by thoughtless 
irrigation. When you begin to force crops out of the land you must manure, 
and manure heavily. Where irrigation is very profitable is where the sewage 
from towns can be collected, as on the sewage farms at Croydon, England, 
where vegetables of a'l sorts are grown, and their quality is found to be of the 
best. 
Mr. H. N. THornpurn (Bundaberg) said: Mr. Lee had told them of an 
irrigation scheme of piping that he had patented, he understood, for watering 
fruit trees. That was all very well for orchards, but for a man who only had 
a small garden or a few trees he would describe a simpler plan. It was some- 
what on the same principle as Mr. Lee’s system, but all that was needed was a 
few earthenware pipes from 18 inches to 2 feet long, placed in a hole at the 
side of the tree, in which were a few bones, oyster-shells, or anything else that 
would act as a medium to allow the water to soak in. This was a very simple, 
effective, and economical appliance for watering the fruit trees. 
Mr. J. W. Lee (Zillmere) said he had allowed the patent, which was 
chiefly in connection with the form of the pipes, to lapse. Anyone could use it. 
Mr. J. G. Pareruorpr, in thanking Mr. Jones for the information he had 
given, said that even if they had the gullies dammed up he doubted whether 
there would be any water to irrigate with. There was one creek at Gowrie, 
but he did not think the settlement down below would allow the creek to be 
dammed up to irrigate their fruit farms with. The only supply of water in his 
district was underground, and the question was whether underground supplies 
were good for irrigation purposes. Some he knew were, and some were not. 
1t was for themselves to get to work to find the water, and, having found it, to 
learn whether it is suitable for irrigation or not. 
Mr. J. Davies (Gympie) described a plan which he adopted in watering 
the trees in his fruit garden, which was to sink a flower pot near the roots. 
He obtained water from a well, however, and the great drawback was that the 
water was so cold that if it were applied to the trees on a hot day they were 
affected. The foliage hung for an hour or two after an application of the cold 
well water. 
Messrs. J . Davies and Owen Jones discussed Mr.'Thornburn’s method of 
irrigation, the former gentleman stating that he adopted a similar plan, using a 
flower pot. 
Mr, P. McLean (Agricultural Department): I can assure those present 
that Mr. Lee’s system of irrigation has been a big success in many places, and 
a good many years ago I read a paper on “ The New Agriculture,” in which it 
was described. Mr. Lee, I believe, has improved on the system I then touched 
upon by having his pipes perforated at the sides. The question of irrigation is 
a very big one, but it is one that should be dealt with intelligently, as it is by 
no means everyone who understands irrigation. i 
Mr. McLean then instanced the case of a gentleman who spent £600 on 
an irrigation plant for his orange-trees. He had a very valuable orchard, and 
after he had been carrying on his irrigation for some time he began to discover 
that the leaves of his trees were turning yellow. He spoke to Mr. McLean 
several times about it, and when the latter visited the orchard he discovered 
that the trees were being drowned at the bottom and killed at the top, for the 
caking of the soil caused the feeding roots to be starved. Mr. McLean told 
him the plan that should be adopted, and he completely changed his system. 
When people talked about irrigation they had to: remember that something 
more was required than water, for there was the question of taking the water 
off the land after it was put on. 
Mr. D. Jones then replied to the remarks of the various speakers. 
